Office demand did not disappear; it concentrated. The best buildings in the best locations are close to fully let, and everything else is competing on price against a use it was never designed for.
The gap between grades has become a cliff
Prime, well-connected, energy-efficient space is letting at record rents in Manchester, Bristol and Edinburgh as well as London. Secondary stock in the same cities is letting at discounts that would have been unthinkable in 2019, and some of it is not letting at all.
Where the demand is going
- Life sciences and lab-enabled space, which needs floor loadings ordinary offices do not have.
- Last-mile logistics, which is competing with housing for the same edge-of-centre sites.
- Flexible Class E units, where a single lease can cover an office, a clinic or a showroom.
Retrofit is now the default
The embodied carbon in an existing frame is worth more than the efficiency of a new one for most schemes under twenty storeys. Planning authorities have noticed, and several now ask for a retrofit appraisal before they will consider a demolition.
The question is which office people will walk past three others to reach.Slateon Commercial
